Acceptance Speech for "So B. It"

It is with great pleasure that I accept the 2006 Dolly Gray Award for Children's Literature in Developmental Disabilities. I am touched and honored that So B. It has been deemed worthy of this prestigious honor. Since the book was published, I have traveled across the country visiting with thousands of school children and educators. It has been one of the most gratifying experiences of my life as an author seeing the way Mama and Heidi and Bernie and Elliot are so readily embraced and accepted by readers both young and old.

I have received many wonderful letters, a great number of which come to me from families whose members include someone with a disability. They write to say that they identify with Heidi’s story and that they are grateful for the positive message of the book. There could be no sweeter music to my ears!

Heidi has a lucky streak when the story begins, and although that streak is broken near the end of the book, she could never really lose her luck. Her parents may not have had the words to tell her how much she was wanted and loved, but Heidi knew it. Now, thanks to the Dolly Gray Award, others who might not have otherwise found my book, will come to know it too. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for making this happen.

Soof.

Sarah Weeks